The Northampton Arts Council's annual series kicks off on Feb. 5
The Northampton Arts Council's Four Sundays in February program has usually been marketed as a weekly cure to winter doldrums. Although the past few months have been incredibly mild, it's still winter and people can always use some cheering up. Besides, one never knows what evil weather February may have in store.
This year's series includes both traditional fare (The Silver Chord Bowl) as well as something new that is actually a reprise of something old (a tribute to the Rusty Nail). Add in a fascinating look at Circus Smirkus and the annual Really Big Show, and you have a lineup as diverse as the arts themselves.
The program will kick off as usual, with The Silver Chord Bowl, which features an elite flight of collegiate a cappella groups. This year's slate includes The Dartmouth Aires, Pitch Slapped from Berklee College, University of Pennsylvania's Dischord, the Trinity College Quirks, Smith College Noteables, and the Doo Whop Shop from the University of Massachusetts. The singing starts at 2 p.m. on Feb. 5 at John M. Greene Hall on the Smith College campus. General admission seating is $12, with a limited number of premium seats at the front of the hall available for $30. These premium seats must be ordered in advance by phone at (413) 587-1609.
The second Sunday will feature the aforementioned Rusty Nail Revisited event. The Rusty Nail was a unique club in that it drew national acts to its barn-like space nestled in the tobacco fields of Sunderland. The bar saw its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s, before burning down in 1985.
While the club saw acts such as The Ramones, Muddy Waters, and Marshall Crenshaw take its stage, the focus of the Feb. 12 event will be on the local and regional bands that played there, including Fat, Real Tears, the Mitch Chakour Band, and nearly all the members of Clean Living.
"The Rusty Nail was the place to go in the '70s and '80s and these were the local bands that made up the core of the music scene there," said Arts Council director Bob Cilman. "Band members will be traveling from as far away as London and California for this amazing reunion."
The show starts at 2 p.m. at the Academy of Music. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door.
On Feb. 19, the award-winning documentary "Circus Dreams" will be shown at the Academy of Music at 2 p.m. The film follows Circus Smirkus for a year, capturing the lifestyle, work ethic, friendship bonds of the members of Circus Smirkus, one of the most renowned traveling youth circuses in the world. Director Signe Taylor will be on hand for a Q&A session after the film, which will be preceded by performances from the clowns, aerialists and other amazing performers who are featured in the film. Advance tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for children under 16. Tickets at the door are $10 for adults and $5 for children under 16.
The series winds up, as usual, with the Really Big Show, a takeoff of the old Ed Sullivan Show that ran Sunday nights in the 1960s. Like the Sullivan show, the Really Big Show is a variety show that is aimed to delight people of all ages and all tastes. This year, Tom Mahnken of Trailer Park and Unit 7 fame returns as host, after his debut impersonating Ed Sullivan. This is the first ever encore performance of an Ed impersonator in the Really Big Show's twenty-one-year history.
The show starts at 2 p.m. on Feb. 26 at the Academy of Music. Tickets: $8 in advance and $10 at the door.
Proceeds from this series fund the Northampton Arts Council's ArtsEZ Grant Program, which funds individual artists' projects every spring. For more information on tickets and individual shows, go to www.northamptonartscouncil.org